F1 Canadian GP 2024 LIVE: Qualifying updates and times in Montreal

George Russell claimed only the second pole position of his career after setting an identical time as Max Verstappen during a scintillating qualifying session at the Canadian Grand Prix.

The British driver, who was on pole in Hungary in 2022, proved Mercedes’ progress and beat Verstappen by virtue of having set his time first as the pair could not be separated by the timing charts.

The top three were separated by just two-thousandths of a second, with Lando Norris lining up third.

Lewis Hamilton fell away at the end to finish seventh after appearing in the battle for pole.

“We all struggled with tyre management. The pace was OK. We struggled a bit more from this morning. It’s tight!

“We have to be pleased the gap is so tight.

“Tomorrow, the weather forecast is not very good, it could be a chaotic race. Let’s see tomorrow.”

“We’ve embarked on a route, we went to reinvent ourselves. Kimi Antonelli is part of that, we’ve not made the decision. We didn’t want to force Carlos to wait.”

Announced a few minutes prior to qualifying, RB have taken up the option to keep Yuki Tsunoda – that’ll be his fifth season in a row for the Red Bull sister team!

“We’re on pole position, it’s amazing his lap was great! We’ve brought a lot of little bits over the last few races, heading towards a more performing car.

“Lewis was actually having the upper hand, both cars comfortably beating everyone, for Lewis the time didn’t show up.

“We have a grip now on the car. One swallow doesn’t make a summer, the lap was great but we need to keep both feet on the ground.

“We have more downforce in the right places. The car is well balanced now.”

“Congrats to Mr Russell, he’s been quick all weekend. I’m happy with third, good job by us, excited by tomorrow.

“It’s one of the best places to come to every year, I love it. It’s tricky, when you put a nice lap in, it’s a nice feeling.

“Two overtakes tomrorow? Easy, light work! Car has been great last few races, few fast drivers ahead, we’ll put on a good show tomorrow!”

“It is how it is, we had a good qualifying. The whole weekend has been tricky, to be P2 I take it! It makes it really exciting for tomorrow….

“I think it will be an interesting race for the tyres, weather too. I’m not that stressed about it!”

“Amazing, it feels so good. We said in Monaco that this can be the start of something for our season!

“It’s awesome here, there’s such good energy. Now we’ve got our eyes on the win. Let’s go for it – since we brought some upgrades, we’re going for it tomorrow!”

Max Verstappen sets EXACTLY the same time as George Russell but because the Brit set it first, he stays on pole – and it’s 1:12 dead!

Russell: “Now we go get the win!”

Lando Norris in third for McLaren!

4-10: Piastri, Ricciardo, Alonso, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Stroll, Albon

What a conclusion to qualifying!